Alabama Accountablity Act presents no ethical conflict (Your view)

There
are two principles often considered when making ethical decisions. One is Consequentialism
and the other is Equal Respect. The first holds that the best decision is the
one that creates the best outcome for the greatest number of people. The second states that any decision must
consider all who will be affected and must not disrespect or marginalize any
persons or groups of people. Frequently
these two principles conflict, and leaders must base the decision on what they
consider to be their primary obligation.

The Alabama
Accountability Act presents no ethical conflict. It fails to meet either principle. This was outlined clearly in The Birmingham News report on Sunday, March
31. In terms of consequentialism, the
majority of children affected by the law will be negatively impacted. The majority of children in failing schools
are poor and will not be able to afford the tuition cost above the subsidy or
transportation to a private school. In
the long run society as a whole will be harmed with money being reallocated
from the public school system and with large numbers of children poorly
educated. In terms of equal respect, the law marginalizes the poor in a legal way that we
haven't seen since the Jim Crow laws and legal segregation.

When segregation
was challenged by the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and 70s, our "leaders"
(as misguided as they were) at least claimed that schools were "separate but
equal" and stood openly in the schoolhouse door. In 2013, our "leaders" operated in the dark
of night to reinstate what, in practicality, amounts to legal segregation. They don't even pretend that facilities that
are "separate" are "equal." And they give
lip service to helping the poor while siphoning funds for middle and upper
socio-economic whites to continue to attend segregated academies. Just as in the early part of the 20th
century we whites pretended that black children had equal facilities, we now
pretend that the Accountability Act will benefit poor children.

Legal
segregation stood for decades because good, well-intentioned people did
nothing. We can't go there again in our
state. And we cannot allow our
legislators to pass sweeping legislation in the shadows. The citizens of Alabama deserve better than
that.

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